Deirdre Joy stands next to her burning stove inside her Mount Pleasant home as four people huddle in the narrow kitchen. “I can’t help but feel like my breathing is a little strained,” Joy says.
Katie Meyer, a clean energy campaign representative with the local chapter of the Sierra Club, takes notes as she keeps a constant eye on the climbing number on her handheld gas monitor.
“In four minutes, you can turn the stove off,” Meyer says. Joy is relieved, but resolute, “Knowledge is power,” she says.
City Paper joined Joy, Meyer, and Joelle Novey, director at the environmental faith organization Interfaith Power & Light, for a new initiative that aims to illustrate the impact methane-burning gas stoves have on the climate and on public health.
Through a series of volunteer-led air tests, organizers are measuring indoor levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution in 500 gas-powered kitchens throughout the D.C. area. The initiative started more than a year ago with the Washington Interfaith Network and other grassroots environmental and religious groups that together form part of Beyond Gas DC, a coalition whose mission is to transition the District to energy-efficient systems.
With the in-home tests, the coalition members hope to demonstrate the otherwise invisible contributions to climate change. As the planet’s environmental crisis worsens, the effects have become more severe. But for some, the specifics of what is contributing to the problem remain elusive. Beyond Gas hopes to raise awareness for the health threat posed by gas stoves and educate residents on how to mitigate health risks of this pollution.
The program comes amid a larger, national debate on the benefits of electrification as a way to meet climate goals, improve public health, and lower energy bills. According to data compiled from the Urban Institute, residential energy use makes up approximately 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions nationally, and building energy consumption accounts for 74 percent of all emissions in D.C. A shift to more energy efficient buildings makes up a key part of the District’s pledge to become carbon neutral by 2050.
Using a portable gas monitor designed to test nitrogen dioxide, Meyer and Novey measured the NO2 levels in Joy’s kitchen air at three points: after she had the stove turned on for 15 minutes, again 15 minutes later, and a final time 15 minutes after Joy turned off the stove. The detector read 85 parts per billion at the first measurement, 123 at the second, and 93 at the final reading. The federal Environmental Protection Agency air quality guide for nitrogen dioxide says that anything above 101 parts per billion is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups.
According to the EPA’s assessment, exposure to nitrogen dioxide ranging from 30 minutes to 24 hours has been linked to adverse respiratory effects in all groups, “including airway inflammation in healthy people and increased respiratory symptoms in people with asthma.” Sensitive groups, including children, older adults and people with lung disease (including asthma) are more susceptible to symptoms associated with the gas, the EPA finds.
Kitchen ventilation, ceiling height, home structure, and stove type all factor into the amount of nitrogen dioxide that can build up, and Novey notes that the readings only measure one of several pollutants coming from the stove through leaks and incomplete combustion. She says the main goal of the kitchen tests is to start a discussion and raise awareness about potentially harmful gas appliances.
“It’s ‘citizen science,’” she says. “We’re hoping direct engagement with the public through measuring the harms of methane [gas] will lead people to speak up in favor of the Healthy Homes Act,” which aims to equitably distribute federal funding to low- and middle-income households for residential energy efficiency and electrification programs.
The bill is awaiting approval from the full D.C. Council. But in the meantime, starting in October, low-income households in Deanwood and River Terrace in Northeast D.C. are able to apply to join a pilot program from the city’s Sustainable Energy Utility that would cover 100 percent of the cost to replace old gas or outdated systems with energy-efficient electric equipment such as induction stoves and heat pumps. The program comes through the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund passed earlier this year.
Beyond Gas DC hopes to complete 500 kitchen tests before publishing a report on their findings in the spring of 2024. So far, the coalition has completed more than 375 kitchen tests, including Ward 3 Councilmember Matt Frumin’s stove. Those interested can sign up to have their kitchen tested here.
“It’s been so meaningful to engage directly with people about something they might not have understood about their homes,” Novey says, “It really helps us drive home why it’s important that we achieve [electrification].”
This story has been updated to include the correct link to sign up for Beyond Gas DC’s air quality tests.